Biographical/historical information

Clarence Cameron White, black violinist, composer, and teacher, was born on August 10, 1880 in Clarkesville, Tennessee to James William and Jennie White (later Jennie Conner). White grew up in Oberlin, Ohio and Washington, D. C., where he attended Howard University. After graduating from the Oberlin Conservatory at Oberlin College in 1903, White went to Washington, D. C. to become director of the String Department of the newly formed Washington Conservatory of Music. He married Beatrice Louise Warrick, a pianist, on December 31, 1904; they had two sons, William and Clarence.

For the next forty years, White continued to teach study, perform, and compose. From 1908 to 1910 he lived in London, studying violin with the Russian violinist, Michael Zacharewitsch, and composition with the Black English composer, Samuel Coleridge-Taylor. While living in England, he also served as first violinist in the String Player's Club of Croyden, conducted by Coleridge-Taylor. After returning from England in 1910, White moved to Boston where he opened a private violin studio. He remained there until 1922 when over-exhaustion caused him to spend a year recuperating in Oberlin.

In 1924, White was named head of the Music Department of West Virginia State College, Institute, and West Virginia. He held that post until 1930 when a grant from the Julius Rosenwald Foundation enabled him to spend two years in Paris. There he studied under the French composer, Raoul Laparra, and worked on his Haitian opera, "Ouanga"! for which he won the 1932 David Bispham Medal, awarded annually by the American Opera Society of Chicago for the best operatic work by an American.

"Ouanga"!, meaning "voodoo charm" or "voodoo spell", is based on the violent life of Jean - Jacques Dessalines, the slave who led his people in revolt and became Emperor of Haiti in the beginning of the nineteenth century. The libretto for "Ouanga"! was written by John Frederick Matheus, Professor of Romance Languages at West Virginia State College. White and Matheus had gone to Haiti during the summer of 1928 to study native music and folklore. Their collaboration resulted also in "Tambour" (1929), a two-act play with incidental music by White and "Coco macaque", an early version of "Ouanga"!

In 1932, White became director of the School of Music at Hampton Institute in Virginia, a position he held until around 1934. From 1937 to 1942, he travelled around the country, organizing community music groups for the National Recreation Association.

Beatrice White died in the early 1940s. In 1943, White married Pura Belpre, children's author and librarian with The New York Public Library. From then until his death on 2 July 1960, White lived in New York City. For a short time he continued to give concerts and teach violin. He later retired to devote full time to composition.

During his career, White composed a great variety of music. Many of his compositions, including "Bandanna Sketches", were based on black spirituals. He also wrote a number of classical pieces, such as a violin concerto in E minor and a symphony in D minor for cello and piano. A nine and one-half minute musical selection entitled "Elegy", written in 1954, won the 1953-1954 Benjamin Award for Tranquil Music. A later composition, "Heritage", consisted of a cantata set to the poetry of Countee Cullen.

White's work was published largely by the Carl Fischer Company and was played by many musicians of note, such as Fritz Kreisler and Albert Spaulding. White received several other awards and honorary degrees, including the Harmon Foundation Medal and Award for distinguished service to music (1927), an honorary Master of Arts degree from Atlanta University (1929), and an honorary Doctor of Music degree from Wilberforce University (1933).

Scope and arrangement

The Clarence Cameron White Papers, 1901-1940, n.d., consist of biographical information, correspondence, contracts, financial records, programs, newspaper clippings, other printed material, manuscript music, other writings, and photographs, documenting the first thirty years of White's career as composer, violinist, and teacher. These years represent a very fruitful portion of White's life, during which he received his musical training and wrote a great many of his compositions.

Ranges from official documents to autobiographical sketches, handwritten by his first wife. Included are his son, William's, birth certificate and college grades, a fragmentary scrapbook for the Hampton Institute School of Music and brochures advertising White as a violinist and composer.

Divided into two chronological series of incoming and outgoing letters. The majority of the letters were written to White by family, friends and business associates. Regular correspondents included his mother, son, and Ona Talbot and Myra Reynolds Richards in Paris. Richards was a sculptress whose bust of White appears in the photographs in the collection. Letters to Beatrice Warrick White from her father, Thomas Warrick, are also included in this series. It should be noted that a number of incoming dunning letters were discarded before the collection was acquired by the Schomburg Center. For further information on significant correspondents, see the partial index following the Container List.

Consist almost entirely of correspondence and charts detailing royalty payments to White from Carl Fisher, Inc. and Theodore Presser Co. The royalty account records list the names of the songs, number of copies sold, number of exempt and free copies, stock on hand, price, and royalty due.

Includes programs, miscellaneous printed material, and newspaper clippings. The Programs file, 1907-[1938], n.d., is divided into two chronological sequences; programs for White's own performances and performances of his works by others, and programs relating to other artists. The Programs are almost entirely musical in nature, and range from individual recitals to commencement exercises at Hampton Institute. Some programs are autographed by White or other artists. Several programs for Jules Bledsoe are included in the file.

Include lessons and examinations from Hampton Institute, articles and speeches by White, articles and papers by other authors, and manuscript music. The lessons are numbered consecutively and deal with the history of black music. White's articles and speeches are mostly undated and relate to black music in general and specific compositions such as "Bandanna Sketches" in particular. Articles and Speeches by Other Authors consist mostly of papers written by White's students for his classes at Hampton Institute. Included also in this file is an article from the "Indianapolis Sunday Star" on sculptress Myra Reynolds Richards. Manuscript Music (1905-1939) represents over half the Clarence Cameron White Papers, and has been divided into files on "Ouanga"!, "Cocomacaque", and Miscellaneous Music. Although most of this music is handwritten, a number of printed compositions have been included in this series. Printed items are noted as such on the Container List. The Manuscript Music is largely undated.

Arranged under the following headings: Clarence Cameron White, Individual Men, Individual Women, Children, Group Portraits, and Places. Most of the photographs are not captioned or identified, and very few have dates. Of particular note is a photograph of Ira Aldridge as Othello (1930). None of the photographs have been microfilmed.

Administrative information

Source of acquisition

The Clarence Cameron White Papers were purchased from Anne Luber, Irvington, New Jersey, on 14 September 1976. SCM76-1.